Floyd Mayweather: Champ's Legacy Does Not Rest on Fight with Pacquiao

I want to see Floyd Mayweather Jr. step into the ring with Manny Pacquiao. You want to see that fight. The world wants to see that fight.

We all want to see that fight.

But we've been waiting...and waiting...and waiting for that fight to materialize, only to have it saddled with lawsuits and nothing but empty talk coming from both camps.

At this point, it's fair to say that the fight that we all want may never take place.

Some will say that not stepping into the ring against Pacquiao will forever tarnish Mayweather's legacy; that not taking on the other legendary fighter of his era somehow means that we should put an asterisk next to his name in the record books.

Really?

He has won eight championships at five different weight classes, he's undefeated in 43 professional bouts and he has consistently been ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world for years.

Mayweather has beaten champions for their belts, and he has given formerly unbeaten fighters the first blemishes on their resume, doing so against a number of men who were bigger and stronger than he was.

But none of them have ever knocked him down, much less beaten him in the ring—a testament to his excellent defensive game and overall boxing ability.

A fight against Manny Pacquiao would be phenomenal, not only for the fans and the sport, but for both fighters as well, finally putting to rest the question in the backs of all of our minds—who would win?

But what would it prove at this point, when both fighters are past their prime?

This is a fight that would have meant much more years ago than it does now.

Floyd Mayweather is an all-time great, a legendary fighter.

Whether he ever steps into the ring against Manny Pacquiao does nothing to change that.